Nov. 29, 2014
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Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
Opening Statement
“What a game. It was a really crazy game. I am so proud of our players. That is the way that they have played all year. We made some mistakes in the kicking game and still found a way to win the game. I thought our offensive line was really coming off the ball and knocking Georgia back. And then at the end, D.J. White makes another great play.”
On what the win means…
“This win doesn’t define a season. It’s a rivalry game. It’s good for our players and our fans. I’m not going to change my mind. One game does not define a season. 10-2 defines a season. Playing for an ACC Championship next weekend defines a season.”
On Georgia…
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Georgia’s program. The stadium. The fans. They have a good football team and a good football program. They have for a long time and they will for a long time. That makes it even that much more impressive for us to be able to come in here and get a win.”
On the momentum shifts…
“The craziest part of the game to me was the third quarter. We take 8-9 minutes off the clock and drive it all the way down to the other end and have it on the one. The next thing you know is that we’re down seven instead of being up seven. Then they kick off to us and we return it back to the 12, and then have to punt. Fortunately we were able to block a field goal and turn the momentum one more time.”
Senior AB Synjyn Days
On what the win meant to the team…
“You know, it’s a rivalry game so of course we’re going to take it a little bit more serious because with us being seniors we haven’t beaten UGA since we’ve been here. So that was one of the things coming into the season, on our goal board, was to beat UGA. We’ve accomplished that, so kudos to the team, coaches, and Yellow Jacket nation.”
On if he felt like they would find a way to win the game…
“Yes, definitely. We felt like it was going to be that kind of game, just pounding the ball and running the game. You know, Nick Chubb did a great job running the ball, too, and some of the other running backs, but me and Zach felt like we would be able to take over the game if they just kept feeding us the ball more and more and letting us wear down the defense.”
Senior BB Zach Laskey
On what the win meant to the team…
“It’s an exciting win. Last year we kind of felt like we had them where we wanted them and we let them out, so this year it was special, especially for the seniors.”
On what helped the team run the ball effectively in the second half…
“It was the guys up front. We were able to get good push on them all game. You know, coach said, `They think they’re bigger than you, go out there and show them they’re not.’ I think we established that today.”
Sophomore QB Justin Thomas
<>i>His thoughts on his goal line fumble that was returned by UGA for a TD…
“It’s something that we can’t get back so I’m not going to discuss it. I felt like I was in but they said I wasn’t so we had to move on. We did that and came out on top.”
On what was going through his mind on the final drive to set up the FG…
“I saw that the middle was wide open. What we wanted to do was kind of cover it up, so I just took off and ran. I knew we didn’t have any timeouts left so I just tried to get as far as I could to get out of bounds to at least give us one more shot for the end zone or a field goal.”
Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt
Overall thoughts on the game …
“I’m very proud of the players and how they played heroically. I’m disappointed the way it ended. … They guys played with a lot of heart and soul and put us in position to win. I’m so proud of the way they played and I’m sad it ended the way it did.”
On the squib kick …
“I’m disappointed in my decision to squib kick. That gave them the field position to get it in range and kick it. That was a poor decision on my part. That was no one’s decision but mine.”
On needing touchdowns more than field goals today …
“That’s usually the case in a game like this. They were calculated risks, but they were things we believed we could get done, so we took the risks and most times it worked.”
On Tech’s third-quarter time of possession …
“They had a lot of time of possession. They had a long drive, then we ripped it out and scored and we had to go back out and play defense again. That’s just part of the game. They did a good job of being methodical running the ball. We got some stops when we needed to, but we just didn’t get it done in the end.”
On the last play of the game …
“It was a slant route and the guy jumped it. He did a good job of undercutting it.”
On plays at the goal-line today …
“Goal-line plays were very interesting. We fumbled twice and we ripped one out and scored. The goal-line offenses for both struggled at times. It was unusual.”
On the fake field goal …
“We knew if they came hard off the edge there would be a chance to get it. Unfortunately, we didn’t score a touchdown, but we were in a lot better shape when we kicked a field goal. It was a calculated risk, but it was one we had repped and had faith in and executed it well.”
On Georgia’s last scoring drive in regulation …
“We believed if we got the ball again, we had a chance to score, and sure enough we did. It was a dramatic drive, scoring on fourth down. It looked like it was over, but obviously it wasn’t.”
